Kate Bartlett: NYC’s Favourite Fashion Student

Tiktok has been a proponent of overnight fame, and Kate Bartlett has recently found herself in the middle of it all. Gaining almost 100,000 followers overnight from her “What I Spend in a Day As a Fashion Student in New York” video, she has proved herself an inspiration and role model for many interested in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle advice. Kate is currently enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, studying fashion business. She makes it seem like she has double the time in the day as the average person, and there is never a dull moment on her social media. From New York Fashion Week to spontaneous trips to Paris, Kate lives the life many can only dream of. She seldom takes this for granted, though, and offers countless tips on surviving in NYC on a budget.

One of Kate’s biggest tips for securing a job in the fashion industry is to experiment with different avenues of fashion and see what piques your interest the most. She has worked countless jobs, ranging from charity fashion shows to working sample sales, but it all started when she created her own fashion blog in high school. She emphasizes the importance of making as many connections as possible and making a great first impression because you never know who you’ll meet. Kate’s rise to fame can be attributed to her transparency on her social media, as she gives an inside view into what influencers really get for free, how to properly apartment hunt in NYC, and her very real “day in my life” videos. Aside from the title of “influencer,” these helpful tips go a long way for someone who isn’t accustomed to the way of life in New York City and can help when considering moving or looking for jobs there.

As a fashion business student, Kate is constantly looking for ways to save money and make everyday tasks a little less costly. She coined the term “no sober Ubers” and is a major enthusiast of walking anywhere and everywhere you can. Knowing the high prices of Ubers in the city, she stresses using public transport and CitiBikes as her main mode of transportation. She is also a fan of finding dupes on Amazon for more pricier items that aren’t affordable or necessary for the average person. You won’t find a bigger lover of Pret A Manger than Kate, as she can be seen without fail grabbing her daily coffee. She encourages purchasing the $30/month coffee subscription, which allows up to 5 coffees a day for 30 days. She’s found ways to make New York City much more affordable and constantly reiterates that even though NYC is dubbed an extremely expensive city, there are many ways to make a living there affordable but still enjoyable at the same time.

Her recent New York Fashion Week content has been anything but disappointing. Her TikTok videos directly represent her personality; inviting, bubbly, and creative. She also finds time to squeeze in her school work during the chaos that is NYFW, making her stand out from other influencers and giving her the upper hand when it comes to all things fashion. Her education is very important to her, and she has always said that what she has learned is applicable to her lifestyle and will be continuing with full time social media content creation post-grad.

Kate embodies the very essence of what it means to create the life you’ve always dreamed of. She started making videos in her parent’s backyard at the start of the pandemic and has grown to unimaginable heights and successes in the past 2 years. She has amassed over a million followers on TikTok now and is the go-to for all things fashion. If Kate could give one piece of advice, it would be to just start. There will always be people who think what you’re doing is uncool or embarrassing, but Kate is real-life proof that as long as you believe in what you’re doing, it’s guaranteed you’ll stumble across some people (or maybe hundreds of thousands!) who take an interest in what you choose to create.